Before voting Monday for a proposed final 2015-16 budget with a 3.78 percent tax increase, several East Penn school directors defended the budget process against criticism that the district should have worked harder to practice austerity.

School Director Lynn Donches said she couldn't support the $141 million spending plan because the board and administration hadn't done enough to curtail increases in salaries and health benefits of staff at contract time or to practice thrift in administration.

"Are our taxpayers going to be able to afford the 2.5 percent increase in salaries?" she asked.

She said 65 percent of the district's budget goes to salaries and benefits, but in private industry those line items run about 40 percent.

"We don't exercise any type of austerity here at East Penn," Donches said.

"You know that crisis happens little by little, 1 percent by 1 percent," she said. "It's our responsibility to slow down the increase in cost."

The board ultimately voted 8-1 in support of the proposed budget with Donches casting the lone dissenting vote. The final budget is scheduled for a June 22 vote.

Several school directors responded to the criticism by saying that the district made cuts to reduce the tax hike, including 10 percent cuts in school building budgets and cuts to the central office.

Among the reductions, School Director Ziad Munson said, were less music for the music departments, less equipment for physics classes at the high school, and eliminating funds to assist with the alcohol-free after-prom party at the high school, which is a safety measure so kids don't get in trouble after the prom.

Authors' visits to schools were cut back, repairs have been put off and book purchases have been cut, he said.

"This is a really hard budget," Munson said.

School Director Wally Vinovskis said the district staff has made many hard choices but should not apologize for spending the bulk of its budget on staff salaries and benefits.

"I would hold up the way East Penn manages its budget and finances against any district in this commonwealth," Vinovskis said, adding there are districts that spend a lot more per student and have poorer student outcomes.

"This isn't a factory and our greatest resource isn't buildings or machines," Vinovskis said. "This is a school, and our greatest resource is our teachers and our faculty and our staff. … We invest our resources in the teachers and the staff who educate our children."

The proposed final budget would raise the property tax millage rate from 16.6649 mills to 17.294 mills. (A mill is a $1 tax on every $1,000 of a property's assessed value.) At that rate, a homeowner with property assessed at $250,000 would see a tax bill of $4,323, or about $157 more, according to unofficial calculations.

The district plans to use $4.7 million of its fund balance to balance the budget, leaving nearly $6.2 million in the fund balance, administrators said.

Superintendent Michael Schilder said he is optimistic that the district's revenue picture will improve as some large construction projects, including the Costco-anchored Hamilton Crossings shopping center in Lower Macungie Township, are complete and generating tax revenue.

"I do see light at the end of the tunnel," Schilder said.

In addition, School Director Francee Fuller said, the development of large warehouses in the district gives her hope that future budgets will see a revenue boost from the expanded tax base.